Pierre DMITRIENKO (1925-1974)

Pierre Dmitrienko was born in Paris, and he was both a painter and sculptor. His mother was of Greek origin and his father of Russian origin, having fled their homeland during the revolution. Encouraged by his grandfather, Édouard Debat-Ponson, a painter of impressionist landscapes, Pierre Dmitrienko was early interested in painting. He did his secondary studies in Neuilly and from 1944 at the Beaux-Arts in Paris where he studied architecture for two years, before he chose to devote himself to painting. In 1946, Pierre Dmitrienko became a student of a Dutch artist established in the Montparnasse area of Paris, with Lazmann and Rezvani. In the autumn of 1947, Aimé Maeght exhibited this group of artists named “Les Mains éblouies” (“The Dazzled Hands”), with the trio Lanzmann, Dmitrienko, Revzani and other young creators who shared their perception of painting.

Pierre Dmitrienko tends towards a poetic approach to the essence of vision. In the 1950s, he made a work in which he strips the universe around him of all precise references to reality. His technique is made of transparencies, glacis, where the fluidity of the material and the modulations of tones are moved. The feelings felt by the artist in front of nature and its spaces are exposed on the surface, with force and intensity. He created anthropomorphic oval-shaped works adorned with plastic elements, echoing human atrocities and the approach of Jean Fautrier, with the serie “Hostages”.

From 1947 to 1950, Pierre Dmitrienko exhibited alongside Chapoval, Rezvani and Arnal at the gallery of Aimé Maeght, for the annual exhibition “Mains éblouis” (“Hands dazzled”). He participated in several exhibitions and salons, including the May Salon and the Réalitées Nouvelles, including several international group exhibtions.